Romania Slide Presentation

Sunday, December 5th, 2010
9:30 Am to 10:30 PM
(light breakfast provided)
Westminster Hall - Westminster Presbyterian Church
Nacogdoches, Texas

"Travel" to Romania to see the work of NOROC and last summer's WPC work with the children from the Tulcea orphanages.

Put faces with the names of the children and leaders that you have heard about,

"Meet" big-hearted grannies, big-hearted teachers, and big-hearted friends.

"Visit" the beautiful Romanian churches, architecture and countryside.

Hope you can join Marty, Sharon and me!

Love through Christ,
Bobbie Ann

Keep Checking Back!

Each day, I'll re-visit previous posts and add photos. They take a while to upload, so be patient with me. Thanks so much for your support of this blog. Your encouragement makes my day!

Love through Christ,
Bobbie Ann

The Cemetery

Near Brasov, we stopped at a beautiful cemetery. People of the Orthodox faith treat their deceased family and friends with great respect. They pray for the dead and light candles to honor them. The cemeteries are beautiful, to me, anyway. Very crowded, the graves bunt up to one another. Flowers are planted on top of each grave, with a little tin box for candles at the base of the headstone.

As I understand it: The deceased are buried. Seven months after death, it is the responsibility of the eldest son to remove the decomposing body and clean the bones. Then the bones are re-buried. The bones of several family members may occupy the same grave. Sounds kind of creepy at first, but it is their tradition and not unusual to them.

At the cemetery, several people were visiting the graves of their loved ones. The little old lady was one. Through our bus driver, she explained to us that she visits the grave of her family members every day, praying, tending the flowers, etc. She was so very sweet and enjoyed sharing her story. She lives across the street from the cemetery and invited us to her home for tea. Sadly, we didn't have time. I wish we had accepted her invitation.

Some of the gravestones include photos of the deceased. Back home in Millville Cemetery (located north of Henderson, TX - where I was raised), the gravestone of my brother, grandparents, and uncles also have photos. It is the cemetery where most of my family on my father's side are buried. So, this is not an unusual custom for me, though some in our group were not familiar with the tradition. For my family, seeing the photos is comforting.

Respecting the cultures of others is something we Americans should work on.

Dear Lord,

Please comfort those who mourn for loved ones. We lift them up in our prayers. Bless them and give them strength to carry on until it is their time to join you above.

In Christ Name,

Amen

Bobbie Ann

A Few Photos (many more to come!)

I'm in the process of organizing over 1,000 photos. Here's just a few to wet your appetite! (Some photos were taken by me and some were taken by Petru.)

Texas, My Texas!

We've landed! Be home by bedtime!
Love to you and yours,
Bobbie Ann

On Board!

Flight was delayed in London (Heathrow) but we've boarded now. Ron is picking up Marty, Sharon and me at DFW. See you in Texas!

Love, Bobbie Ann

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! I just got off the phone with my Dad (age 88). So good to hear his voice and wish him a Happy Father's Day.

Last night, we attended a special worship service at Casa Nuestra, a property owned by NOROC. The service was held outside, under the carport cover, which is home to the NOROC van. (Romanians are very resourseful, making good use of everything.) chairs surrounded the perimeter in a circle. With a few benches and chairs in the middle. We were all seated facing the communion table, complete with a beautiful brass cross (just like our's at Westminster), a basket of bread, a picture of water with a fresh lily, and a pitcher of juice.

I should explain: Ninety percent of the Romanian people are Orthodox. NOROC does a beautiful job of working with children from all faiths: Orthodox, Presbyterian, Baptist, Muslim...everyone works together to help the children. Not always as easy task, but we're all here for the same purpose.

So....in the Orthodox service, a lily is dipped in water and the water is "flung" towards the congregation. I'm sure there's a more appropriate word than "flung," but that's the best I can came up with right now! Thus, the pitcher of water with a lily.

The purpose of the special worship service was two-fold. First, to celebrate the conclusion of our trip and secondly, to witness the confirmation of a teenage girl. She was baptized as an infant in the Orthodox church, yet at this point in her life, wanted to publicly profess her faith and be confirmed, as a sign of her love and dedication to Christ.

We sang hymns together in Romanian and English. Rev. Mary and Rev. Rich led comunion. There was a brief message and the young lady was confirmed. At the conclusion, I sang a duet, "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee," with my young Romanian baritone friend. I sang in English while he simotaneously sang in Romanian. It was a very special moment for me and I hope for others, too.

The service was hosted by Rev. Mary's Thursday night Bible study group, many of which attended camp. It was so good to see them again. I sat by my new friend Narcesa, who helped me make paper flowers a few days earlier. Such a precious child of God! Others on attendance were NOROC staff members and supporters in Romania, as well as us, the American team.

After the service, we went to dinner at a hotel overlooking the Danube. It was the perfect night to end our time in Tulcea. Early the morning, we left Tulcea for a six-hour drive to Transylvania, where we visited two castles, including the Dracula castle. (Or so they say.)

Tomorrow, we'll drive back to Bucharest with a few sightseeing stops along the way. After spending tomorrow night near the airport, our flight leaves early Tuesday morning for the US.

Love to you all,

Bobbie Ann

Bittersweet

Bitter because we're leaving the beautiful country and it's children in the morning.
Sweet because I miss my husband and family terribly am anxious to head home in the morning!

Today was a great day. Awoke to a lovely breakfast overlooking the Carpathian mountains. Headed out for Bucharest with several nice stops along the way. We had the nicest young man as a driver for the past two days. Very polite and helpful, well beyond the assigned responsibilities of his job. We visited the city of Brasov, where the Black Church is located, so named after a catastrophic fire in 1689. The flames and smoke blackened it's walls, but the sumptuousness and the grandeur of the church could not be shattered. The Black is home to a 4,000 pipe organ built by Bushels from Berlin in 1838-1839.

Brasov is also home to great shopping, so we were able to complete our gift lists before leaving. For lunch, we ate in a wonderful restaurant full of ambiance. It was built into and around stone foundation of a hotel, which sits above the restaraunt. I ordered a capreese salad, which was delicious, followed by a platter of grilled vegitables. Perfect! To end the meal, Barbie and I shared a Peach Cream desert. Divine!

After leaving Brasov, we continued south towards Buchareast, which was a 6 hour drive. We're staying overnight at a hotel near the airport. The 6:30 am shuttle will take us to the airport. Then it's off to Heathrow and lastly, DFW. Ron is picking up Sharron, Marty and me and will be our "driver" back to Nacogdoches.

Tonight's Bible study was taken from Matthew 25:14-28, if you're following along. This the parible about The Talents.

The end of our prayer:
Judge me tonight, Lord,
Review with me the talants and my use
of them before it is too late to learn,
Set free your gift of grace within my living.
And let it lead me out into creative investments
of my life and my love in the building
of your kingdom.

Love in Christ,
Bobbie Ann

A Day in Tulcia

Beautiful Tulcea market with fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Saturday morning, women gather to gossip at the market square. Their husbands sat on the next bench. Some things are universal!

Petru took this aerial view of Tulcea. The large yellow building in the middle houses a grocery store on the lower floor and a mall shopping area on the upper floors. Our hotel is the tall building northeast of the yellow building. The market, Casa Nuestra, NOROC offices, the Orthodox Church, IBIS B&B, as well as the orphanages are within walking distance.

Sorry for the sloppiness of the last post. I think I was half asleep.

Marty, Sharon and I rode the bus with the apartment kids back to Tulcia last night. Some of the children live in the orphanage and some of the older teens live in apartments with a supervisor.

Our last day at camp was wonderful! Perfect weather, great participation and everyone got along beautifully. Like all teenagers, they spent the first part of camp learning the boundaries. There was a little tension. By the next day, all was fine. These kids have such troubled loves, but somehow, they cope. More about camp later!

This morning, Marty and I walked a couple of blocks to an outdoor food market. Beautiful produce! We bought local cherries and peaches. Wanted to buy much more, but I can't bring it home. Very sweet people in Romania. I haven't seen a single example of rude behavior toward us.

We then walked to meet the pre-school children at an indoor play area for young children. It's kind of like a play area at McDonald's or Chick Fillet, only much, much larger. In addition to climbing toys, their are riding toys, puzzles, etc. It was very clean and nice. I believe it is a privately owned business that parents pay to take their children to, but NOROC reserved the entire room this morning for our group. These are the same children we saw last Saturday. Such a joy to see their precious faces again. More about this later.

Sharon conducted her second Play Therapy Workshop with over 50 participants! Very well received! More about this later, too.

Tonight, we'll attend some type off closing dinner. Some of the kids will be there, in addition to NOROC staff and volunteers.

Love to you all,
Bobbie Ann

Back to Tulcia

Left camp at 9 pm. Back in Tuchia. Very tired. Madge is my roomie and already asleep. Lots to share at the right time.

So much to share yet!
Love through Christ,

"The Americans"

We are known as "The Americans." This is our team:

Rich and Carol are from Lubbock and have been very involved with NOROC for many years. Rich is a Presbyterian minister and Carol teaches Pre-K. This is Rich's seventh trip to Romania and Carol's fourteenth! We certainly appreciate their experience and leadership. Rich enjoys woodwork, so he and David have taught the kids how to build birdhouses. He has a basic knowledge of the language, drives the van, and helps in many other ways. Carol, together with Mary of NOROC, wrote our camp curriculum, schedule, etc. She and Barbie lead the group physical activities every day. Also, Carol speaks Romanian very well! Carol is the "adopted American mother" to a 30 year old young man here, whom she met when he was 22. Rich and Carol have two grown daughters.

David and Barbie are also from Lubbock. This is their first trip to Romania. David runs a family hardware/furniture with his brother and sister. Also a woodworker, David designed the birdhouses and made the templates. The night we arrived at camp, David and Rich cut wood for the birdhouses using tools they brought with them. The children then painted and assembled the houses. David is very soft-spoken, but when he speaks his wisdom is obvious. Barbie is a speech pathologist and her experience with children is invaluable. She, too, soft-spoken but when she talks, we all listen! David and Barbie have three grown children (I think!).

Madge is from New Branfels and is retired. For 15 seasons, Madge has worked at Yellowstone National Park as a supervisor. An avid hiker, Madge has visited Switzerland twice, as well as many other well-known hiking locations on the US and abroad. This is Madge's second trip to Romania with NOROC. On the previous visit, Madge met the Roma (Gypsy) children that I mentioned in a previous post and generously provides for many of their needs. A portrait artist, Madge sketched the face of each precious child In Session I, which she then gave to them. Not a girly girl, Madge has graciously put up with the silliness of Sharon, Marty and me as we all share a room. Madge has three grown sons and seven gradchildren.

These five, plus Marty, Sharon and I make up the American Team!

Love to you all,
Bobbie Ann

"James"

I would like to tell you about one of our campers, a young man. To honor his privacy, I'll call him"James."

As these campers arrived yesterday, my attention was drawn to James. With sandy blond hair, a golden tan, and a medium yet athletic build, you would think he was a lifeguard in the beach instead of an orphan in Romania. Always looking for the soccer ball, James loves the sport. His English is excellent, the best of any of the kids I've met. In fact, I've asked him to serve ad translator for me several times.

James is intelligent. Almost scary the way his brain works. And he's a deep thinker, always commenting on a much higher level than others. Unfortunately, his intelligence gets him into trouble. James is always plotting to get out of scheduled activities and play soccer or smoke behind the fence instead.

During rotation groups, Mary leads small group study time. I happened to be with James group during that time. The question Mary posed to the children was, "What do you see as the biggest problems in the world today, and how can we as Christians help?" Mary put the kids in pairs and gave each pair a poster-size piece of white paper with a circle in the center, representing the globe. They could draw or write in any way to express their answer. Afterward, each pair stood and explained their work.

James and his partner drew a face in the globe. I couldn't tell if it was a pirate, a clown, or what. James read what he wrote below the face. To summarize, the face represented indifference. James believes the end of times is near and we don't care about anything anymore. Choices don't matter. It makes no difference if we're good or bad, because it will all end soon.

His words and drawing touched me so. What pain, sadness, and hopelessness. Please pray for him. You don't need his name: God knows.

Dear Lord,
Touch James' heart. Give him hope. Ease his sense of "indifference." Show him your Grace. Let him grow into the intelligent leader he could be. Guide him down the path of righteousness. Provide Christian male roll models for James, Lord. And may NOROC be a tool for your will.
In Christ name we pray,
Amen

Hidden Treasure

We have group Bible study with the staff every morning and evening. Today's lesson is taken from Matthew 23:44-46, if you'd like to follow along. So many pearls among these children!

The ending of our morning prayer:
I thank you for these hidden things,
the moments that surprise, the secret depths
that hide below the surface
of your wonderful, mysterious creation.
Let me not be so preoccupied
with the busyness of this day
that I forget to watch for, to be ready to,
the treasures you have hidden along the way.
Amen

I hope you have a wonderful day!
Love through Christ,
Bobbie Ann

Teenagers

So much cooler today! Very pleasant- cloudy and overcast, but cool. When the kids went boating this afternoon, one young lady didn't feel well, so she stayed here at camp. Her name is Narcisa (Nar-chee-sa), isn't that pretty? She and I made paper flowers for about an hour. Even though she's shy and we speak different languages, we managed to get along very nicely. The children study English through high school, so even if they don't speak fluently, they understand much.

Have I told you about the coo-coo birds? They call coo-coo throughout the day, but especially in the afternoons. Always on the same pitch. I suppose there's a law about smuggling birds out of the country, so I'll refrain.

In a way, I miss the younger children. They loved to hold hands with us. And Marty, Sharon and I loved being grandmothers to them all. The teenagers are polite and somewhat curious about us, but they are teenagers. I guess it's the same with teenagers everywhere, in Romania and America.

Bible study time, on the other hand, is amazing with these kids. Their deep thoughts are troubling. Very few good role models- children who went through the "system" and on to lead happy, productive lives - are few. Although the law requires that they stay in school until age 18, it us very difficult to actually graduate. Very few of these kids will attend university. Mary says it's hard to teach them about God's love, because they don't feel loved. Mary focuses on Hope through Christ.

We continued today with previous activities: scavenger hunt, building birdhouses, song time, outdoor games, etc. Tonight at 9, we're watching a movie. It's Romanian but has English subtitles. I'll try to keep up.

Mrs. Dinu is preparing the same meals as the last camp, only there's more food for the big kids. At lunch and dinner, I shared a table with four boys. They put food away just like my Paul did at that age. At lunch today, we had soup. (There's always soup first!) the boys at my table asked Mrs. Dinu if we would have another course. Not in a disrespectful way, but in a sweet way. She teased them by saying it was a light lunch today. Then she came out of the kitchen with platters full of sausage and cabbage, laughing all the way. I like Mrs. Dinu and think we could be good friends.

Have I told you about Hotel Egreta? I think you can google it. It's about a mile from us, on the delta in the bird sanctuary. Maybe the website has a map and you'll know our location. For a treat, we went there for dessert a couple of days ago after the kids went to bed. They have air conditioning and ICE!. Very nice!

Please pray for these young people. Their future will be a struggle. Few opportunities exist. Most of them smoke, though they want to quit. Shops sell cigaretes individually to them. Very sad. Mary says it helps the hunger.

Almost movie time. Please forgive me if I ramble and repeat myself. I work on these posts in small segments throughout the day and usually loose my train if thought.

Dear Lord,
Bless these teenagers. Grant them peace, courage and hope. Show them your love through us, Lord, and show us the way to love them. Give us the tools to lead them positively. Show us the path, Lord, and we will follow. We will hold your people in our heart.
In Christ name we pray, Amen.

Session II Begins!

The teenagers arrived about 8 this morning. I was again on lice patrol. None found! Very sweet kids. They remind me of our youth group at Westminster. Some live in the orphanage and some of the girls live in apartments with a housemothers, of sorts. Their in rotation groups now. Lunch is soon, at 1pm, so this post will be short.

We had rain this morning, so the temp is much cooler. First time I've worn long sleeves.

More after lunch,
Bobbie Ann

Closing for now

Don't know why, but my last post cut me off. Guess I'm long winded.

Tonight's Bible study was Luke 15:4-7, The Lost Sheep. Rev. Rich Schepp led us through another wonderful time of sharing and study. The Lost Sheep scripture can be applied in so many ways to our mission here. Delightful discussion.

I'll close with the ending of today's Bible Study prayer:

Make me a part of your community this night,
may I rest in the peace of your Kingdom,
and arise to rejoice in your service. Amen

Through the love of Christ,
Bobbie Ann

Day of Rest

Very pleasant weather today- not quite as hot and a little breeze. Mrs. Dinu prepared a special lunch for us today on our day off without the children. The soup (we have soup at the beginning of almost every meal) was a clear broth with light colored meatballs. Not sure what the meatballs were made of, but I don't really care because the soup was delicious! The entree was similar to Cordon Bleu with rolled chicken, ham and cheese. It was dipped in better of some type and fried. Romanians use mostly sunflower oil, so the fried foods do not taste as heavy as ours do. Sorry if I talk about food too much, but so many people have asked me about the food. Plus, I like to cook and talk about food!

We feel very refreshed tonight and excited to meet our new group of campers at 8 am tomorrow morning. This group is made up of 8-12 graders. Mary knows them all and I believe most attend Bible study at Casa Nuestra with NOROC. We've tweaked the schedule and curriculum to be age appropriate for teenagers. Sharon and I will again serve as clowns. I like everything about being a clown except the hot costume! (sorry-no more whining.)

This afternoon, Sharon, Marty and I walked into the village for a little snack. I bought a real Coke and a chocolate hazelnut bar. Drank 1/2 the Coke on the walk back to camp, but saved the chocolate for now. Divine! Hoped to get a glimpse is my new little shadow in the village, but didn't see her. We walked in the street with horse and donkey carts or the occasional car. Very nice. There is a calmness here - a relaxing slower pace that I'm very comfortable with. As we strolled along, ladies were hoeing in the garden, feeding chickens and chatting with neighbors. All of the houses are fenced from the street, enclosing the entire yard. Every house has a garden and most have chickens. There is the occasional "summer home" or tourist b&b, and those buildings are more contemporary than the residents' homes.

I should tell you about the owners of Camp Sunshine (or Camp Sunlight, depending on who's translating!). They are Baptist and very special people. Mr. Dinu was persecuted during the communist reign for teaching the Bible. He lived under the threat of death for over 10 years. After the end of communism, he started a foundation to build this camp for children to hear the Word. Supported by churches all over the world, he and his wife work very hard here, year 'round, sharing God's Word with children. Because he and NOROC are involved in some of the work, he and Mary have become friends and work together for the betterment of children's lives. They support each other and respect their different denominations. What a model for faiths around the world! Mr. Deru usually organizes his own camp sessions, but because of his respect for NOROC and Mary, he let's us use the camp facilities for a week each summer. NOROC pays a very fair rate, per child, for use of the camp, meals, etc.

Mr. Denu is here all day, helping with the children and he leads the boating/fishing excursions every afternoon. Mrs. Denu runs the "house" part of camp - rooming, kitchen, etc. They are very respectful of the other's role. When someone asks Mr. Denu about a question about a bedroom, for example, he says, "you must speak with my wife about that." Mrs. Denu is in the kitchen by 4 am every morning, preparing menus and the days meals.

Danube Delta

It's our day off, in between sessions. We're taking a boat ride down the Danube Delta. Remember African Queen? That's what it's like. On our boat are 12 staff members from camp plus the boat captain. We're surrounded by a bird sactuary- so beautiful! The water lilies are georgious and a cloud of dragonflys travels along the water with us. This is a relaxing activity for our frazzeled group before the next session begins tomorrow.

After lunch, we'll visit an archiology site just a few miles from camp. It is an ancient Roman church were the bones of two Martyrs were found in the 70's.

Love through Christ,
Bobbie Ann

End of Session I

It's 9 pm and the children just left on the bus to go back to the orphanage. Lots of smiles, hugs, kisses and tears. Such precious children. I pray that they know they are loved by God, and us.

Marty, Sharon, Madge and I are visiting in our room before Bible study. Rumor is that the water is back on I'm the village and they may move some of us to the lakehouse. The four of us hope to stay where we are. Don't want to move again.

Please pray for all the children who attended camp with us and also (especially!) for the children who were not allowed to come. Can you imagine how said it must have been for them when the other children left for camp? And how sad they will feel tonight when the camp kids return to the orphanage with all their crafts and gifts?

Dear Lord, please touch the hearts of all the children. Let then feel the love that we have for them. Please ease their pain, soften the harshness of their world and brighten their little lives. Lord, we ask that you bring gentleness and kindness to their caregivers.
In Christ Name we prayer,
Amen